Caladium Festival 2021

More documents

Recommendations

Info

18 30th Annual Caladium Festival July 21, 2021 A caladium tale More simple growing tips for dramatic landscape color By NORMA RIZER Editor’s Note: Reprinted from the 2019 Caladium Festival Guide, from the archives of the Highlands News-Sun. Caladiums offer the explosion of color and the dramatic appeal to improve your landscaping. With a wide range of colors and leaf sizes, they work great in your garden or as a fill around your trees. We will try to answer some questions you may have, so grab a glass of iced tea, find a cool place to sit and start planning your yard. As you have noticed as you travel around Lake Placid, this is the middle of Caladium Country. Take a walk around the Caladium Festival and you will find everything from potted plants to tubers (or bulbs, if you prefer). Chat with any of the sellers and they will get you started in the right direction by answering any of your questions. Like all plants, growing starts with the correct type of soil to be successful with your gardening ideas. Caladiums do best in well-drained soil, rich in organic material. With a little planning and preparation they will do extremely well in Florida’s great sandy soil. Florida also offers the ideal climate for caladiums; heat and humidity are just what they like. Caladiums are also inclined to thrive in partially shaded areas, although some varieties have different light requirements. Just check with your supplier on what will meet your needs. All the tubers need is to be planted no more than two inches below the soil line and spaced eight to 14 inches apart, depending on your plans. Larger tubers will usually produce more leaves, but small tubers can produce larger plants if left in the same spot. Caladium bulbs will orient themselves in the ground, but if there is a pointed end, plant it pointing up. Check with your supplier on which fertilizers to use. Dry soil will make for unhappy caladiums. Hot and moist conditions are necessary for germination, watering frequently to keep soil moist but not soggy. Some varieties are suitable for full sun, but do not let them dry out. In the tropical south, caladiums can be left in the ground year round. Lake Placid is in Planting Zone 9 so there is no need to remove the bulbs. Plants in the northern areas will need to be removed before the first frost; then replanted the next year after the chance of frost is past. Under more shady conditions, caladiums will show more green in the leaves. Darker colors tend to be more pronounced in acidic soils. At least one reference mentions that fertilizing may cause color variations, and some varieties change color as they mature. Mom always told us bloom stalks should be removed before flowering to force bulbs to send energy to the showy leaves. Growers here say that although mom was right about most things, this is not really needed. Blooming will not affect the life or condition of the plant. Since some gardeners will be planting in the northern parts, be sure to follow your supplier’s instructions when you receive your tubers. Here are a few facts if you’re taking home plants or tubers: • Caladiums are tropical plants and tubers need to be stored above 60 degrees with humidity at about 75 percent. Good air circulation is critical to prevent rot. • Bulbs that have been exposed to cold temperatures will sprout slowly. • Harvest the bulbs and leaves when temperatures go below 60 degrees; let them dry for a week or so, then trim the tops before storing for winter. • Starting the plants indoors and transplanting in summer is a good plan, but bulbs need warm soil to germinate quickly. Bagwell Lumber Company DELIVERY AVAILABLE My Dentist told me I needed a crown. I was like, “I KNOW, RIGHT?!” • Crown milled the same day in our Sebring Office • No more pouring models & biting into gooey trays • No more waiting 2 weeks for temporary crowns • 3-D scanning gives a perfect fit & color match 453-3168 • Decking • Fencing Insulation • Paint Windows • Doors Moulding • Locks • Lumber adno=00066038 For All Your Building Needs Bagwell Lumber Company 309 W. Pleasant Avon Park adno=00066811 Dr. James Pyle D.D.S. WELCOME CALADIUM FESTIVAL ATTENDEES! Dr. Tina M. Thomas D.M.D. Now Serving 2 Locations 323 S. 6th Ave. Wauchula 33873 (863) 773-3204 5935 US 27 N., Suite #103 Sebring, Fl 33870 (863) 382-0888
July 21, 2021 30th Annual Caladium Festival 19 Caladium Co-Op founded on art, community AMANDA FERNANDEZ/CORRESPONDENT Caladium Arts and Crafts Co-Op gallery. The Co-Op offers workshops, selling or buying caladium-oriented crafts and remains very involved in the community. AMANDA FERNANDEZ/CORRESPONDENT Caladium Arts & Crafts Co-Op founder and Treasurer Carol Mills, Sandi Cross (Advertising) and President Joni Warner. By AMANDA FERNANDEZ CORRESPONDENT LAKE PLACID — When someone visits The Town of Murals, also known as the Caladium Capitol of the World, and wanders down Interlake Boulevard, they shall surely see the wonderful Caladium Arts and Crafts Co-Op. The building originally was host to a grocery store in the 1940s, then sat empty for years before it become home and beacon to local artists in 1992. It was created and founded by artists Carol Mills, Harriot Porter and Suellen Robinson. Carol Mills, who now serves as Treasurer and loves to weave on baskets and looms, explained that the purpose of the Co-Op was to give a place for local artists to come together to display and sell their handcrafted arts. “And the real reason we wanted to start it is because a lot of us had been doing shows outdoors. In Florida, you’re at the mercy of the weather,” she laughs. “So we thought, ‘Oh! Wouldn’t it be so nice to have a place where we can have our stuff on display all the time?’” They contacted all the artists they knew in Highlands County and had their first meeting, which consisted of 84 people. “We had done a budget and we knew we needed at least 40 members to make it work,” said Mills. “And so, the first night we had 84 people and 30 years later, we are still here.” The Co-Op is also a source of education to those interested in learning anything art. It is totally artist run. From the gallery to their classrooms, they offer a variety of different workshops from painting to pottery. “We used to have a girl from Nantucket come down who taught me how to make Nantucket baskets,” said Mills. “We had Martha Weatherbee come in and teach Shaker baskets.” The Co-Op also has roots in the community’s mural culture. One of the Co-Op founders, Harriot Porter, while on a motorcycle trip to Alaska with her husband Bob Porter, came across a town called Chemainus in British Columbia. It was here they encountered “larger than life” murals painted around the town. “So they brought back the idea of murals,” Mills said. “The first mural that was painted is right here on the side of our building.” If that wasn’t integrated enough, the Co-Op is very involved with the Caladium Festival. “They first started having art competitions and we used to have it back here and whoever the winner was of the art competition, their design was put on the t-shirts and the posters for the festival,” explained Mills. “So we’ve always been tied tightly together with the caladium growers. That’s why we named it the Caladium ART | 37 Est. 2003 General Contractor adno=00068454 “Constructing with Confidence” CG1518433 ChrisCauffeld77@gmail.com • 863-441-1569
Page 1 and 2: CALADIUM schedule of evenTs Page 3
Page 3 and 4: July 21, 2021 30th Annual Caladium
Page 17: July 21, 2021 30th Annual Caladium
Page 22: 20 30th Annual Caladium Festival Ju

Caladium Festival 2021

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?